Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has issued an amendatory veto on the state’s P3 bill, requiring further action from the House for it to proceed.
The legislation sought to change the current P3 enabling environment in the state, by replacing references to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) with “responsible public entity”, which would have paved the way for other public organizations to utilize the model.
According to the veto, the legislation currently “creates a local pathway for private industry to enter P3 agreements that skirts transparency and anti-corruption requirements”. It added that it “puts the state at greater risk of project failures”.
The move is not set to affect the state’s highway plan, which has long-standing enabling legislation for IDOT.
In May, Illinois’s House of Representatives passed a resolution backing the restart of the I-55 Managed Lanes project, which will likely be delivered under a P3 model.
Speaking to Illinois Public Media last week, Pritzker recently said that he was "still looking at" the potential Chicagoland P3 project.
"I'm listening to a lot of folks on both sides of that. I'm not opposed to P3," he said, adding that he wants to "make sure that this meets what I think the goals are for our state."